Expression-marking for note-sheets.



P. K. VAN YORX.

EXPRESSION MARKING FOR NOTE SHEETS.

APPLI OA TION FILED DEC. 21, 1908.

Patented Jan124, 1911 kovdm y Vilma-00 UNITED PATENT OFFICE PERCIVAL K.VAN YORX, OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WILCOX 81. VJHITECOMPANY, OF IVIERIDEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

EXPRESSION-MARKING FOR NOTE-SHEETS.

Specification of Letters Iatent. Patented Jan. 24, 1911.

Application filed December 21, 1908. Serial No. 468,429.

To all "whom "it may concern:

color may indicate afaster speed. Froin B Be it known that I, PERCTWALK. VAN to C the line 1 may be assumed to be black, in- Yonx, a citizenof the United States, resid- (heating (as it originally did) aresumptioning at Meriden, county of New l'laten, State of 11211 speed.From C to D the color .Of

5 of Connecticut, have invented ji-ertain new the line may be assumed tobe blue, which 9 and useful Improvements in lflxpression- C0101 yindicate a WG p 5O Marking for Note-Sheets, of which the :lfol- From theforegoing it will be seen that lowing is a full, clear, and ex'aetdescription. he speed, and changes of speed, may be in- M jnyention l tan im p d 9 (heated clearly and unmistakably to the optcm for marking amusic roll or note sheet to y h 11% 0f dlfieleht 00101S WhiQh be usedWithmechanical music playing instru-- l hp y" and arbitrarily meancel'tam ments such as pianoplayers, player-pianos, i ng vmechanicallyoperated organs and thelike l 3 26 variations in speedturnish one The object of the invention is to provide h I Change 111 p fh and ""W 5 a systmn of n a king by \Tllicl] J ingle 111 0115 111 volumefurnlslr fl llOt llCl kind may be employed to indicate two different ichange in express on, ,if it is desired kinds of expression, namely,volume and to mfhwte a Change 111 3 of n tempo. This line extendslongitudinally of the 11119 1 y f Ol t0 the right and left the sheet, sothat asthe note sheet traverses f the Sheet, as lhdlcated 1h 1g t0 1-the tracker the operator will be advised dlctite t ed vo me andchangese- 7* thereby Whether he is to maintain, increa se lIt m h hassulhedlhhflt it has been P or decrease-the speed of the instrument, at"1011 iv; QXPhIIIIQd t0 the fl t that when the same time advi 'ng himalso vhether the the 1111? moves t0 the g 11? 111011115 volume of soundis to be nmintained inge1nvolume,fo1'exainple,more volume;

5 creased or diminished, when it moves to the leftit means another inthe :urcompanying drawings, 1. have flhahge in "Q f p 1958 1conventionally illustrated a portion of a l, and when It continues p lWith th note sheet bearing thereon my improved ge of the Sheet 1t meansa Cohtlhufihce 0f marking. the same volume (Whatever that volume hap- Inthe accompanying drawing, Figures 1 Phi W r it be le, 1301438, and 2 areeach plan views of a portion ofa p mssimo, 01" anything between S'fl dtW note sheet with my improved marking extremes. I 11 110 be Seen thatby this thereon. very simple expedient'the operator may, by

The reference numeral 1 is applied to the obs rving this single line, beguided as to 5 expression line in both figures, While the 'a sp d andVolume nc d g Cha ges reference numeral 2 indicates the note sheet. thpp priat 1501 t e P u ar C My invention comprehends' a single line P ionbeing rendered. So for as volume made up of different colors, each colorhavconcerned, it matters n Whether hl ing a distinctive meaning withreference to 0118 COlOfOl othe and S0 f as Speed one kind of expression,The li th is concerned, it matters not Whether the line formed mayincline or' move from the right is running P l t at an g e to the'leftrelatively to the length of the t e e ge of he Sheetsheet to indicateanother kind of expression, While I have described the marking, as

-' Referring first to Fig. 1, I have shown a though the differentcolorsare to indicate 5 t h t 2 f a sition in which it speed, and theposition of the line is to inmay be assumed there is to be no change indicatQ volume; it is obvious that this plan the volume, the expressionchanges being may be reversed so that color Will indicate brought aboutsolely by changes in speed volu1ne, and the posit-ion ofthe line willin- On Fig. 1 from the point indicated at O to dicate speed. This is anobvious reversal, the point indicated at A it may be assumed which, ifunderstood by the operator at the that the color of the line I is black,to indibeginning of the piece, will afford him precate a'normal speed(whatever normal speed cisely the same guidance as first explained; maybe selected for thatsection of the piece I Note sheets such as I havedescribed are v or composition). FronrA to B the color of usuallyperforated, said perforations being 55 the line 1 may be assumed to bered, which arranged in such manner as to control the employed at anydesired place or places on the sheet to furnish special instruction.These other marks would be merely additional refinements and are notessential to the fundamental idea of means herein disclosed and claimed,which means serve tov guide the operator in the right direction withoutunduly limiting him in the exercise of his own individual conception ofthe precise degree of speed or volume, and changes therein, that are tobe observed in any particular composition.

.As is well known, no two composers or players have precisely the sameconception of what constitutes the best rendering of a composition, buteach has his own particular thought or fancy relatively thereto. \Vhilethese thoughts would, in the main, probably harmonize, here and therevariations will almost always occur. By my improved system of marking, anote sheet for any given composition may be provided with a guiding lineor expression line (as I term it) which will afford the user directionsas to an intelligent and artistic rendition of each particular piece.These directions, if followed, will so clearly guide him that he willrender the piece intelligently and satisfactorily. By this system theintelligence of the 0perator is not subordinated to such an extent as tomake him simply a part of a machine,

but his musical sense is appealed to and cultivated.

WVhat I claim is:

As an article of manufacture, an expression marking for perforated notesheets for mechanical music playing. instruments, comprising a notesheet, a line thereon extending longitudinally thereof and composed ofdilferentlycolored sections, said ine extending to the right and leftrelatively to the edge of the sheet, the colors indicating respectivelycertain differences in one kind of expression, the deflection of theline indicating certain differences in another kind of expression.

PERCIVAL K. VAN YORX \Vitnesses:

R. C. MITCHELL, M. E. GARRETT.

